Endometriosis is a widespread disease but still too little known today. Characterized by the development of fabric similar to the uterine mucosa outside the uterus, its most common symptom is a pelvic pain sometimes disabling before and during rules, or during sexual intercourse. Endometriosis can also cause digestive disorders and infertility.
Globally, this disease affects 10 to 15% of women of childbearing age, or about 190 million people. Despite these figures, the researchers still do not know how to identify exactly what causes it. According to a new study published in the journal Jama Psychiatry, mental health could play a preponderant role in its appearance. What tackle this evaluing evil in a completely different way.
Dora Koller, women’s health researcher at the University of Barcelona and Renato Polimanti, professor at the University of Yale, are the authors of this paper. In an article for The Conversation, they explain having based their research on clinical and genetic information of more than 500,000 women, more than 30,000 of which have endometriosis. This is how they identified that the latter reported traumatic experiences and stressful events, both in childhood and in adulthood, at a higher rate as those that were not affected by the disease.
Scientists have also found that patients with endometriosis were more likely to declare that they have suffered a sexual assault in adulthood, having received a diagnosis endangering their lives or having witnessed a sudden death. Also, women without endometriosis were more likely to be placed in the group without trauma (24%) compared to those with the disease (20%). A correlation was also able to be made with post-traumatic stress syndrome and infantile mistreatment.
Consequences on the entire body
Another observation: traumatic events and genetic factors can contribute to the risk of developing the disease independently. In other words, genetics and traumas affect the organism in a distinct and potentially cumulative way.
But how do traumas upset the body so much? Certain traumas linked to health problems, such as cancer or heart disease could explain this link between a physical and psychological shock, and endometriosis. For example, stress reactions linked to negative experiences can trigger inflammation in the body, which in turn would contribute to the development of chronic gynecological disease.
Trauma can also disrupt hormonal balance, in particular by increasing stress hormones such as cortisol. These hormonal changes would worsen symptoms of endometriosis or influence its development by modifying estrogen levels.
Finally, traumatic events can also have long -term effects on epigenetics, influencing immune responses, inflammation and hormonal regulation, which could also contribute to the development or worsening of endometriosis.
